Swiss Style Apricot Tart

A sweet treat today! Last week we arrived to the family holiday house in the south of Switzerland, in the region called Ticino for a well deserved holiday. My uncle and aunt were waiting for us to handle over the keys of the house and they had baked a delicious apricot tart for us. It was the same tart that my grandmother  used to bake, she did it sometimes with apricot, sometimes with prunes and even with cherries. We used to eat it as main dish for dinner, not as desert. 

Of course I immediately asked for the recipe and here it is! It is so easy and the result is good,

Ingredients and steps:

- puff pastry or short crust pastry

- about 100 gr ground hazelnuts ( enough to cover the pastry)

- about 800 gr Apricots

- 3eggs

- 250 ml cream

- 2 bags vanilla sugar (about 16 gr)

- optional: sugar to taste

Place the pastry in a baking dish. Cover the whole surface with the ground hazelnuts.

Half the apricots and place them on the pastry.

In a big bowl, mix the eggs, the cream and the vanilla sugar and pour over the apricots.

Place in the a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes.

You can replace the apricots by prunes, cherries, apple or any fruit you like. 

Bärner Züpfe (typical Swiss bread)

I used to bake this bread with my swiss grandmother when I was a little girl and spend holidays at her house. Now I do it with my children, who really enjoy the process! We eat it with butter and jam.

Ingredients and steps:

- 1kg white flour
- 1 tbsp salt

Mix it together

- 40 gr yeast
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 5 dl milk

Mix all together with the flower and salt and let it rest for about 10 mn

- 140gr butter, in pieces, soft

Add it to the mixture and knead this dough for about 10 mn till it is nice soft. Cover and let it rest at room temperature for 1 1/2 hour.

-1 egg
- 3 tbsp coffee cream

Mix the egg and 1 tbsp coffee cream

To form the bread: split the dough in two halfs, form two long rolls of about 70 cm and make a braid.(I will be putting pictures to explain the process).
Place the bread on a baking sheet and brush the coffee cream over it. Let it rest again for 30 mn and brush the egg and coffee cream mix over it.

In a pre-heated oven, bake for 40 mn at 200 degrees.